Religious Conservatives Have Lost Their Way! Pious Right-Wing Republicans Smear the Name of Jesus and Ravage the Image of Christ

by Nick Paccione | Sep 20 2006 -

There was a brief period during the early seventies when Jesus Christ was on the way to becoming a totally bitchen, hip and with-it cultural icon in America. He was climbing the Billboard charts as the subject of several songs including "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1971, "Put Your Hand in the Hand (Of the Man Who Stilled the Water)" in that same year and "My Sweet Lord" in 1970 (Granted this George Harrison song was more about Krishna but the general public didn't really see it that way. If you were Christian this song was about Jesus Christ). In his 1973 hit "Why Me," Kris Kristofferson sang "now that I know that I've needed you so; help me Jesus--my soul's in your hand."

The Doobie Brothers crooned that "Jesus he's my friend" in "Jesus is Just Alright" circa 1973. Judy Collins had a hit record with "Amazing Grace" in 1971. "Prepare yourself, you know it's a must; gotta have a friend in Jesus" came from Norman Greenbaum's smash hit "Spirit in the Sky" from 1970. "Day by Day" had regular airplay in 1972 with a chorus that proclaimed "Oh dear Lord three things I pray: To see thee more clearly; love thee more dearly; follow thee more nearly--day by day." These were not Carrie Underwood cornball-country hits about Jesus driving an old Ford Fairlane on a rural icy road and they weren't restricted to Christian radio either. They were 100% mainstream Billboard Top 40.

John Lennon was the most popular spokesperson in those years for the spirituality that told his audience to imagine a world without war, hatred and greed; a world in which we were encouraged to give peace a chance and to love one another. He provided a platform for Jesus' greatest hits in an extremely endearing and popular package and many hundreds of pop stars have followed his lead without directly mentioning religion or Christ. (The message of loving one another is at the poetic heart of all the world's religions.)

In 1973, Hollywood produced a movie based on a Broadway hit called Godspell (Columbia Pictures) which depicted a contemporary version of the gospels, opening with John the Baptist calling young New Yorkers to follow and learn from Jesus. In the movie Jesus' followers develop a nomadic entertainment troupe that enacts the parables through song, dance, comedy, and mime. With thoughtful symbolism we see Jesus crucified in a junkyard and then resurrected by his apostles so that he can enter the world of the living on the streets of New York City. Franco Zefferelli weighed in with his more literal interpretation of Christ's life in "Jesus of Nazareth." And the rock-opera "Jesus Christ Superstar" was given the full Hollywood promotional push as a major motion picture release with heavy-weight Norman "In the Heat of the Night" Jewison directing for Universal Studios.

Jesus' popularity during this period was a natural offshoot of the hippy movement. Let's face it; the hippies of the sixties were a lot closer to being Christ-like than today's Evangelical Christians who as a voting block believe that capitalistic, jingoistic, pro-war, anti-immigration politicians and televangelists are the be all and end all. Yes the hippies were too idealistic and some just pretended to believe in the whole "love-one-another" groovy vibe so they could take advantage of the free love aspect of the movement. And yes, that probably led to the record number of sexually transmitted diseases of present times. But the heart of the hippy was usually in the right place with the idea that many of them found love and peace at the heart of Jesus' message--a sadly naive and seemingly overly sentimental notion among Christians in the USA of today.

Many of these Evangelical TV personalities are no longer with us, their dubious wares and means of dissemination finally caught up to them. Tammy and Jimmy Bakker come to mind here. Remember the final days for them.? They were praying to God while still on TV with their faithful supporters. They were being harassed and investigated. And, they were asking God for help of course and their audience as well. But, to no avail. And, the final sad scenes were there for all of us to see. Jim Bakker, handcuffed and sobbing right there on national television as they dragged him away and out of our lives, seemingly forever. The final ruination of their lives included the divorce of Jim and Tammy and the humiliation brought upon the family. And, the PTL club? The business remains picked up by another Evangelical competitor.

But, is it just God's will to inflict his judgement upon them? The sad spectacle that they became. JIm going to jail and Tammy getting cancer. Gods will? Eternal justice on earth? Maybe.

What about the rest of these soldiers of Christ that are still functioning in their high profile roles? All of the characters mentioned in this article. Can we expect God to be as equally judicious in his handling of these butchers of Christianity? They are all apparently weaving their way to justice as we speak no doubt. What goes around comes around as they say. They cannot fool the Christians forever. One day these good Christians will come to their senses and realize the damage that the phony Christians are doing; damaging Christianity and the rest of the world in the process. Yes, I think there is a God. He may not be yours or mine but, for lack of a better phrase let us call him the God of Justice. And, this God never sleeps on the job. He sees all and knows all. And, when the time comes he will finish off the rest of this group that exploits the Christian masses with impunity.

_________________My life is full of optimism and I am not going to stop living until I know the answers to all of the important things, like why does love exist.

and i, being of that type of religious belief, get more than a little pissed off at how cleverly the right wing rovian agenda of the gop has basically highjacked the pillars of my faith and are using it to further thier dark slithering cause.

my blood comes to a boil pretty quickly as i watch how assholes like pat robertson and jerry falwell who supposedly profess the same as i do sell out for trhe greenbacks that they deem are important in THIER agenda.

notice i said THIER agenda.

CHRIST and his true prophets would be would be truely pissed and revulsed at these clowns.

when christians began whoring themselves into and with political candidates, christianity took a turn for the worse. it's been on a steady decline for years now and has given in to political agendas over biblical. this, i believe, will be the demise of religion.

when will people realize that their faith has been trashed, when their god(s) have been used a prostitutes, and they themselves are nothing more than fools to serve other's greed and personal gains?

the fault lies within every religious group imaginable. if there was a god above, i highly doubt he'd be enjoying what religion is all about today.